Metal Canopy Installation Options for your Facility
Most facilities require people to be outside at least part of the time, whether they are moving from their car to the building, moving from building to building, or when loading/unloading products and materials. And while going outside may be nice most days, on others, it can be inconvenient, frustrating, and even dangerous due to inclement weather. For this reason, Panel Built has developed a wide range of canopy and shelter products to help facilities protect their employees, guests, vehicles, and materials from the weather. Although prefabricated, Panel Built's metal systems are fully customizable to fit a variety of specific applications and needs. In this post, we will go over the variety of canopy types that can be used in facilities, campuses, and properties across the country.
Metal Walkway Canopies & Covered Walkways
One of the primary reasons that businesses, schools, and organizations install canopies on their campus is to keep their people out of the rain when they are going from place to place. Panel Built's walkway canopies offer a great solution for these campuses, especially for pathways between two frequently traveled areas. With the heavy traffic, the canopies will be put to best use, keeping rain, sleet, and snow off of the most amount of people. However, they can also increase the safety of the pathways, helping to reduce the amount of snowy build-up along the pathway. Additionally, Panel Built's metal walkway canopies utilize heavy-duty structural steel. This design allows the structures to stand up in a variety of environments and meet most state and local building codes that call for specific wind & snow loads. Because these structures see this heavy foot traffic and literally has to battle the elements, Panel Built paints the structures with a highly durable, exterior rated powder coating. This powder coating helps the walkway canopies keep their original color for longer and provides added protection against the weather.
Metal Parking Lot Canopies
Even if your facility is just one building, odds are your people will at least be subject to the elements when moving from their car to the building. And if someone forgot their umbrella, they might be in for a long day running through the rain. Another huge advantage that many companies see is that these metal canopies provide protection to the cars themselves that would otherwise be sitting out in the sun all day. This covering reduces the damage of sun rays on the vehicles' paint job: a great way to keep all employees happy. Another great benefit for parking lot canopies (and all of our different canopy systems) are the ability to turn them into profit makers for your facility. The roof of our canopy systems are highly compatible with wide range of solar panels, making the new structures a new potential power source for the facility. Over a period of time and with enough square footage of solar panel coverage, the solar panel + canopy package will eventually pay for itself. Panel Built uses this exact method at our own headquarters, and it has helped us curb our energy spending month to month, while reducing our dependence on non-green energy sources.
Loading Dock Canopies
One area outside of a warehouse or manufacturing facility that can be often overlooked is the loading/unloading docks. Similar to our other canopy applications, our loading dock canopies provide a much-needed shelter for workers in an exterior space that sees frequent traffic. In this case, the canopy system also prevents inclement weather from making its way into the warehouse itself. Not to mention, a canopy over the exterior loading dock area helps keep the area clear of snow, ice, and water. The build-up of either of these three types of precipitation can lead to an increase in slips/falls in the loading area, the most common type of workplace accident. In addition to keeping workers safe, the canopy helps keep the materials dry during loading and unloading. While most materials coming into your facility will be properly packaged and sealed to prevent water damage, an additional layer of protection via a loading dock canopy ensures you do not have to take any unnecessary risks when it comes to protecting your materials, especially since rainwater will seem to find any possible way inside.
Entrance Covers and Shelters
For facility entrances, Panel Built offers a couple of different solutions for facilities looking to combat the inclement weather. One of the most popular solutions is our prefabricated vestibule, which essentially add an extra buffer zone to the entrance of a building. This helps regulate the temperature inside the building, especially in high traffic entrances, where the doors are frequently being opened and closed. However, if a full vestibule is not needed or the facility is in an area with a relatively moderate climate, a simple shelter or canopy over the entrance may be an easier, more cost-efficient solution. One example where these canopies will be frequently found are needed entrances/exits that lead directly to a stair system or elevator (often in/on parking decks). In the staircase scenario, a canopy can be greatly needed to prevent the buildup of moisture at the top of the stairs which could easily cause a nasty slip and fall accident. For elevators that open to the outside, canopies help keep moisture from getting into the inside of the elevator, keeping it cleaner and reducing long-term moisture damage.
As a custom provider of prefabricated canopy structures, Panel Built can supply a variety of custom canopy options to best fit the applications at your facility. Panel Built can design, fabricate, ship, and install your canopy system, as one of the few true, turn-key canopy suppliers in the industry. Our canopy systems are available in custom heights, color options, and roof designs to best fit into your facility's surrounding architecture. If you would like to find out more about our unique canopy systems, give us a call at 800.636.3873, send us an email to info@panelbuilt.com, or let us know in our LiveChat feature in the bottom-right of the page. As a modular structure provider for 25 years, Panel Built's mission is "To Solve Our Customers' Space Needs With Excellence and Great Customer Service," and that's exactly what we will do with your future project!